


Sulit

by RedQueenReigns



Series: Almira Pevensie: The Fifth Sibling [1]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Fantasy, fifth sibling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:48:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 21,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21810307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedQueenReigns/pseuds/RedQueenReigns
Summary: Sulit (adj.) Something that is worth it.Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are in the heart of London during the Blitz until their mother decides to send them to the Country with hundreds of other children. Once settled in their new lodgings the siblings discover a whole new world, complete with magic and a prophecy. There's just one problem. There are five siblings and not four. Almira is the twin sister of Peter and very different compared to her siblings. She has always felt out of place, but maybe in this brand new world, she might find the place where she finally belongs. Provided they can all survive this new world.
Series: Almira Pevensie: The Fifth Sibling [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571572
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing but my OC. Please leave a comment letting me know what you think about the story. This is also unbetaed so sorry for any mistakes you may find.

Almira Pevensie was a mistake, or so she thought to herself. She was born almost the complete opposite of her twin brother Peter. Where Peter was all golden hair, tan skin and blue eyes Almira was black-haired, flawless pale skin and eyes that were the most stunning shade of wine that anyone had ever seen, the color of the finest red wines imaginable. Where Peter was rash and ran headlong into things, Almira was calm and possessed the mind of a chess prodigy. Many viewed her as being cold and entirely apathetic toward everything. That wasn’t the case.

It wasn’t that Almira didn’t care, it was just that she was very good at seeming like she didn’t. Almira cared very much for her siblings and parents, but anyone outside that grouping was left on their own. Almira protected what she viewed as hers with a viciousness that worried Peter at times. Almira simply didn’t see the world the way that everyone else did. And it had become Peter's job to manage her reactions because of it.

When the bombs began falling on London, Almira was the only person who was unconcerned about the possible death that fell from the skies at night. The answer that Peter got when he had asked her about it made him wish he never had.

“When it's our time to die, it's our time to die. No amount of worrying about the bombs falling from the sky is going to change that, besides there are worse ways to die than instant death via explosion. Besides fire is very cleansing, or so I'm told.” The fact that she said this in a monotone didn’t help. Peter decided then and there to never ask her about anything like this again because that answer had terrified him.

Peter and his siblings had quickly learned that Almira had an alarming lack of concern when it came to her personal safety and life. In fact, she seemed to challenge it on a daily basis. That was a fact that the Pevensie siblings religiously guarded from their parents. It wasn’t that she wanted to die, she just didn’t care about what happened to herself so long as the others were fine. It was quickly decided that someone should be with her at all times in case that fact changed.

When their mother informed them that they would be shipped out to the countryside to escape the bombings Lucy approached her. She asked, with all the innocence of a small child, if they were going to be sent somewhere nice. Almira had knelt down in front of her and told her that it was what it was, but that she thought they would go somewhere nice. Edmund had scoffed at hearing that but quickly shut his mouth at seeing the frigid glare his sister leveled on him. Any sane person knew that Almira's bad side was not a place they wanted to be.

Edmund knew his oldest sister loved him. She proved it every time she wound her fingers into his or gently touched his cheek. It had been strange at first, the way she expressed her love for them. Edmund had asked her about it once he had seen how other siblings interacted.

“We're different than them, Edmund, and that's a good thing. If we were like them then everything would be boring. What they think or feel doesn’t matter because they aren’t you, Lucy, Peter, Susan or mum, and dad.” Edmund had never forgotten those words and smiled every time someone called him weird for how he showed his siblings love.


	2. Chapter 2

The train station was crowded the day they left London and Peter had a tight hold on his twin's hand. Almira hated crowded places, and she hated loud things, the station was both. Peter kept a tight hold on Almira's hand to keep her from snapping and hurting someone. He was worried because he could see her tightly controlled patience fraying at an alarming rate. Their mother was kneeling in front of them pinning the identification card to Lucy's coat while Almira stood silently rigid in agitation.

“If dad were here, he wouldn’t make us go.” Edmund snapped out to their mother. Helen Pevensie was dressed in red and Almira didn’t think it a good sign for their future.

“If dad were here, it'd mean the war was over and we wouldn’t have to.” Peter snapped back.

“You will listen to your brother, won't you Edmund, and Mira?” Helen asked with just a bit more force in her voice than usual to ensure that Edmund got the point. Edmund didn’t answer and Helen stood so that she could hug Edmund and she tried to press a kiss to his cheek only for Edmund to sneer and pull away.

Almira could see the hurt that flashed across her mother's face at her brother's actions.

“Edmund,” Almira said frostily, a warning to behave and stop being a jackass. Helen moved to Peter next, who still hadn’t stopped holding Almira's hand. Helen pulled both of them into a tight hug. Peter and Almira used their free arms to hug her back just as tightly.

“Promise me you'll look after the others,” Helen whispered.

“I promise to mother,” Almira replied at the same time as Peter. Helen turned next to Susan.

“Susan. Be a big girl.” Helen whispered as she hugged her second eldest child tightly. Susan was busy hugging back and fighting back tears as she gave her agreement to her mother.

Helen stepped back from them and wrung her hands as she looked at them.

“All right. Off you go.” She finally said. Upon her orders, all the siblings bent down to collect their suitcases before moving toward the train. Lucy had grabbed Edmund's free hand and was dragging him along behind her and Susan.

“Hey, get off. I know how to get on a train by myself.” Edmund protested. Peter and Almira followed silently behind. Almira said nothing as Peter fell into his own head before reaching the ticket lady. It took Susan yanking the tickets from Peter's hand to break him out of it. Almira managed to keep her hand in Peter's while also keeping the rest of her siblings together. Together they boarded the train and waved goodbye to their mother as the train pulled out of the station. By the time they were able to get away from the door where they had been Almira was shaking with the repressed urge to smack people out of her way. Peter having noticed this dragged her along the corridor to find a compartment. Almira quickly took charge and found one that was only occupied by two other children, both of whom looked very scared and very sad. Almira didn’t care.

“Leave.” She snarled at the two children whose eyes grew wide in fright and they scrambled to do as she had ordered. Once the compartment was empty Almira released her pent up breath and flopped down on one of the seats, somehow managing to make that look graceful.

“Al, you shouldn’t have been so mean to them.” Lucy reprimanded softly.

While Peter was in charge of watching Almira, Lucy was the one whose job it was to act like Almira's conscious around other people. In truth Almira had little fondness for humans, they were always sneering down at her just because she was different from them. Edmund's job was to translate her for the rest of the world who didn’t understand, while Susan's job was to make sure she was somewhat presentable to the outside world. If Almira had her way she'd be wandering around in trousers and bare feet all the time. As it was it had been an effort to get her into the grey dress she was wearing today. Susan hadn’t bothered with stockings, knowing it was a lost cause and managed to get her into the correct shoes and even a jacket.

Almira was a singularly beautiful girl. Her long black hair had grown to reach her knees and her pale skin was not quite as flawless as it had been when she was born and was now marred by fine silvery scars from various adventures and mishaps. Her wine-colored eyes were practically as luminescent as her skin and she had developed a fine figure that most girls would kill for at her age. Almira's limbs were strong with muscle from labor that most girls refused to engage in and she wasn’t afraid to jump into a fight. She had a voice that was most often described as sultry and haunting in its beauty and she wasn’t even aware of how beautiful she was.

Almira had fallen asleep almost the moment her head met the seat, ignoring Lucy's reprimand of her behavior. The hours passed slowly and still, Almira slept on until finally their station was called over the speaker. Peter was the one volunteered to wake his twin since she was least likely to hit him upon awakening. Once awake Almira helped her siblings collect their luggage and then waited at the correct door to disembark from the train. The station for the train was little more than a platform in the middle of nowhere with a bench and a faded white fence.

They all jumped to attention at the sound of a car chugging toward them. They grabbed their luggage and ran down the steps to meet the car. The car didn’t stop and continued over the train tracks after honking their horn at the children. They stood there for a little while before Susan spoke.

“The professor knew we were coming?” She asked Peter who shrugged, more concerned with making sure neither Almira or Lucy wandered off.

“Perhaps we've been incorrectly labeled?” Edmund suggested, picking up his identification card to read it. They gathered together upon hearing a voice that sounded like it was directing something. The children moved around the fence to see a stern-looking woman wearing glasses driving a horse and cart toward them. The woman stopped the horse in front of them and Peter had to reach out and grab Almira's hand to keep her from approaching the horse.

“Mrs. Macready?” Peter asked almost hesitantly.

“I'm afraid so.” The woman answered. Peter wasn’t entirely sure about this woman. She didn’t seem like she was very nice. Almira was shifting from foot to foot in Peter's hold and Edmund stepped up to translate for her.

“Is it alright if Al pets your horse? She loves animals.” Edmund asked. For some reason, this appeared to please the stern woman and she nodded her consent. Peter let go of Almira's hand and she immediately drifted over to the beautiful white horse. She reached out and began petting the animal while murmuring to it. The horse also appeared pleased by the attention and gently nibbled at her hand.

“Is that it then? Haven’t you brought anything else?” Mrs. Macready asked gesturing to their sparse belongings.

“No, ma'am. It's just us.” Peter replied.

“Small favors.” The woman replied before jerking her head to the cart for them to get in. Susan was the one to pull Almira away from the horse and into the cart.


	3. Chapter 3

All the siblings could tell that Almira was greatly pleased by their turn of events. They all knew that she loved wide open places, they had found that nature was where Almira was most relaxed and at home. This was like heaven for her. The ride to the house was silent except for Mrs. Macready calling encouragements to the horse and the sharp snap of the whip in her hand. Their first sight of the house had all of their jaws dropping in excitement, except for Almira who was far more composed than that.

Peter couldn’t help but think that his twin had been right in saying what she had to Lucy all those weeks ago. They had been sent somewhere nice after all. Even the stern Mrs. Macready didn’t seem so bad anymore. All the siblings were excited, having never been inside a house this large before and happily jumped out of the cart after collecting their luggage. They looked around in awe as they walked through the entryway, only half-listening to Mrs. Macready as she spoke about the house.

“The Professor is unaccustomed to having children in the house, and as such, there are a few rules we need to follow. There will be no shouting, or running, no improper use of the dumbwaiter, NO touching of the historical artifacts!” She snapped out harshly when she saw Susan reaching out to touch a bust. Susan quickly jerked her hand back while Peter, Lucy, and Edmund chuckled. “And above all, there shall be no disturbing of the Professor.” She intoned lowly and pointed to a door, indicating that this was where the professor spent all of this time.

The rest of the day was spent getting a tour of the house and having their room pointed out to them. Mrs. Macready had been kind enough to situate their rooms next to each other. The girls got the larger room since there were three of them versus the two boys. No one told the housekeeper that Almira wouldn’t be staying with the girls since she and Peter were practically joined at the hip. After the tour Mrs. Macready allowed them to settle into their rooms, saying that she would be bringing dinner up to them only tonight, the rest of the time they were expected to join her in the kitchen for their meals.

By the time night had fallen Peter and Almira had taken up a spot next to the window and were staring out at the forest while radio coverage of London played behind them. Susan noticed that the radio was upsetting Lucy and moved to turn it off. This drew Peter out of whatever thoughts he was buried in. Peter turned around to ask why Susan had turned the radio off and understood when Susan jerked her head at their sniffling sister. Almira moved around the bed to crawl up into it and lay down next to Lucy, grabbing onto her hand and holding it.

“The sheets feel scratchy,” Lucy said as she picked at the sheets with her free hand.

“War's don’t last forever, Lucy. We'll be home soon.” Susan soothed.

“If home's still there,” Edmund said darkly.

“Isn't it time you were in bed?” Susan snapped.

“Yes, mum!” Edmund snapped right back.

“Ed!” Peter warned before turning back to Lucy. “You saw the outside. This place is huge. We'll be able to do whatever we want. Tomorrow's going to be great. Really.” Peter promised.

The rain beat down on the windowpanes as Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Edmund sat around bored in one of the many sitting rooms. Almira had wondered off with Mrs. Macready to visit the stables. At least there Peter knew she wouldn’t be getting into any trouble. Mrs. Macready seemed to have taken a liking to the eldest Pevensie daughter.

“Gas-tro-vas-cu-lar.” Susan sounded out reading the word out of the massive dictionary she had found and situated on her lap. “Come on Peter, Gas-tro-vas-cu-lar.” She pushed. Peter sighed heavily.

“Is it Latin?” Peter asked sounding as if he would rather be doing anything else.

“Yes...” Susan trailed off waiting for Peter to say more.

“Is it Latin for worst gave ever invented?” Edmund asked from where he was laying on the floor under a chair, doing something to it. Susan huffed and slammed the book closed.

“We could play hide-and-seek,” Lucy suggested.

“But we're already having so much fun,” Peter said scarcastically while looking at Susan.

“Please, please, please,” Lucy begged tugging gently on Peter's arm.

“One...two...three...four.” Peter started.

“What?” Edmund demanded even as he got to his feet and rushed off to find a hiding place of his own.


	4. Chapter 4

Almira was laying in the stables with the white horse that had brought them to the house, relaxing into the soft hay she was laying on. Mrs. Macready had deemed her safe enough to leave unattended in the stables and moved on to carry out the rest of her duties. Almira had been talking to the horses all morning about everything and nothing in particular. Mrs. Macready had told her that the white horse was named Winter while the golden colored one was Summer, the reddish colored one was Autumn and the mixed brown one was Spring. Mrs. Macready had been surprised by how quickly the horses had taken to her and yet also pleased by it.

Almira stopped mid-sentence and sat up sharply from where she was laying in the hay. Something was wrong. Almira had always had a sixth-sense about the location of her siblings, always knowing where they were at any given time. But what had so alarmed her was that Lucy had just vanished. Almira couldn’t find her at all, it was like she didn’t exist anymore.

There was a buzzing in the air, like the kind a live wire made that had Almira shivering. Still, Almira couldn’t sense Lucy which led to her jumping up and sprinting toward the house. Almira arrived just in time to feel Lucy reappear. Almira skidded to a stop, soaking wet, in front of her sister and dropped to her knees in front of her and began checking her over for injuries. The strangest thing, however, was that Lucy's skin felt like she had been out in a snowdrift for hours it was so cold.

Lucy was looking down at her sister in worry. She was acting strange, then again she had been missing for hours so maybe it wasn’t that strange after all.

“You know, I'm not sure you two have quite got the idea of this game. Lucy are you alright?” Peter demanded once he had fully taken in the situation in front of him. Almira was soaking wet and running her hands over Lucy like she was checking for injuries and Edmund was looked worried in his own way.

“Weren't you wondering where I was?” Lucy asked sounding confused and doing her best to ignore her sister.

“That's the point. That's why he was seeking you.” Edmund responded sounding exasperated now that it was clear to him that Lucy was fine.

“Does this mean I win?” Susan asked as she approached the group. She shot Almira a disapproving look for dripping on the no doubt expensive carpet.

“I don’t think Lucy wants to play anymore,” Peter explained to Susan sounding worried about his youngest sibling.

“But I’ve been gone for hours,” Lucy said sounding confused.

“Al, what's going on?” Susan asked deciding to deal with the thing she actually could at the moment.

“Lucy was gone,” Almira stated.

“What do you mean gone?” Susan demanded.

“I mean she was gone. As in she wasn’t here anymore. I couldn’t sense her anywhere in the house or on the grounds. It was like she didn’t exist.” Almira said sounding as close to frantic as was possible for her. All the siblings knew about her ability to find them no matter where they were and they relied on it so her not being able to find Lucy was concerning.

“Are you sure that it wasn’t just the rain or something messing with it?” Peter asked. The look his twin shot him was a warning to keep those kinds of comments to himself.

“If it was just the rain then why does Lucy feel like she's been playing in a snowdrift for the last two hours?” Almira demanded. Peter crowded forward and gently touched Lucy's face before jerking his hand back in shock.

“She's right. Lu, you're ice cold. What happened?” Peter demanded.

The story that followed was something that Almira would never have believed otherwise. It wasn’t every day that one found a magical forest in the upstairs spare room wardrobe. Given all the proof, Almira was inclined to believe Lucy. After all, she wasn’t prone to lying or telling stories. Lucy demanded they all come upstairs and see for themselves once it became clear that Al was the only one to believe her.

They followed after Lucy and Almira hesitated at the door. The buzzing was more concentrated around here and was almost oppressive once inside the room. Something for sure had happened in here. The wardrobe itself was beautiful. It was a rich brown color with dozens of scenes carved into the wood. Scene’s that appeared to be something right out of a fantasy novel.

Susan and Peter took to examining the front and interior while Edmund and Almira moved around to look at the back. Almira didn’t need to examine the wardrobe to believe Lucy, but unlike her the others required proof.

“Lucy, the only wood in here is the back of the wardrobe,” Susan explained as she pulled herself out of the wardrobe.

“One game at a time, Lu. We don’t all have your imagination.” Peter said as they headed for the door.

“But I wasn’t imagining!” Lucy protested.

“That's enough, Lucy,” Susan said sternly.

“I wouldn’t lie about this!” Lucy all but yelled at them.

“Well, I believe you,” Edmund said surprising them all.

“You do?” Lucy asked hopeful.

“Yeah, of course! Didn’t I tell you about the football field in the bathroom cupboard's?” Edmund said. Lucy's face crumpled in sadness and Almira really wanted to smack her brother round the head.

“Will you just stop? You just have to make everything worse, don’t you?” Peter snapped.

“It was just a joke!” Edmund protested.

“When are you gonna learn to grow up?” Peter said. Almira wanted to wince. She knew her brother well enough to know that wasn’t going to go down well.

“Shut up! You think you’re dad, but you’re not!” Edmund yelled before racing out of the room.

“Well, that was nicely handled.” Susan hissed before following Edmund out of the room.

“But...it really was there,” Lucy said meekly.

“Susan's right, Lucy. That's enough,” he told her before also leaving the room. Lucy sadly closed the wardrobe before Almira drew Lucy to her side in a hug and walked her out of the room. Almira didn’t need to say anything for Lucy to know that she believed her.


	5. Chapter 5

Almira was fast asleep next to Peter, dressed in one of his old shirts. Peter was wrapped around her until she was jerked awake by Lucy bursting into the room, flipping the lights on and yanking on them to wake them up. Almira sat up sleepily and looked at her sister in confusion.

“Shh, Lucy, what are you talking about?” Almira mumbled still half asleep.

“Narnia! It's all in the wardrobe like I told you!” Lucy said excitedly. Peter was still mostly asleep and wrapped around his sister, his chin resting on her shoulder.

“You've just been dreaming, Lucy,” Susan said as she tied her dressing gown shut. She shot Almira a look at the old shirt she was wearing instead of the proper nightwear she had packed for her.

“But I haven’t! I saw Mr. Tumnus again! And this time Edmund went too!” Lucy shouted. That jerked Almira into a state of full wakefulness. She noted that Edmund was being abnormally still and quiet like he was trying to hide something. Peter was also now awake.

“You... You saw the faun?” Peter asked Edmund. Edmund shook his head.

“Well, he didn’t actually go there with me. He... What were you doing, Edmund?” Lucy asked. All eyes turned to Edmund who looked quite panicked for a moment.

“I was just playing along. I'm sorry, Peter. I shouldn’t have encouraged her, but you know what little children are like these days. They just don’t know when to stop pretending.” He said as he sat on the edge of the bed and looked smugly at Lucy. Lucy burst into tears and ran out of the room. Susan was right behind her along with Almira and Peter once they had untangled themselves from each other. Peter shoved Edmund over as he passed but Almira stopped long enough to speak to Edmund.

“There are things we don’t do in this family, Edmund. What you just did is one of them. I don’t know why you lied and I don’t care. But you had better be thinking of a way to make it up to Lucy because that was unacceptable.” Almira said before running out of the room.

She caught up with the others right as Lucy ran into the Professor. She looked up at him for a moment before throwing her arms around him and sobbing into his robe.

“You children are one shenanigan shy of sleeping in the stables!” Mrs. Macready yelled as she appeared, tieing her own dressing gown shut. She looked up to see the Professor with a weeping Lucy holding onto him. “Professor. I'm sorry. I told them you were not to be disturbed.” She apologized before looking over Peter and Susan before her eyes widened upon seeing Almira standing next to Peter wearing nothing but a shirt.

“It's alright, Mrs. Macready. I'm sure there's an explanation. But first of all, I think this one is in need of a little hot chocolate.” The Professor said gesturing to Lucy who had released him.

“Yes, Professor. Come along, dear.” Mrs. Macready said gently pulling Lucy to her side and moving them toward the kitchen. Peter, Susan, and Almira all turned to go back to bed when the Professor cleared his throat stopping Peter and Susan. Peter had to lean to grab his sister and drag her with them into the Professor's study. Almira stumbled along behind them since Peter was dragging her backward. Once the door was shut Peter released her and ignored the glare Almira shot him.

The Professor sat at his desk and pulled out a pipe before filling it with tobacco from a silver apple dish on the desk. He looked up at the children and nearly choked on his spit as he took in Almira's distinctly undressed state. The professor quickly looked away and Peter was confused for a few seconds before understanding dawned and he whipped off his dressing gown and shoved his twin's arms through the sleeves and tied it shut. Almira tried smacking at his hands but the look Peter shot her was enough to freeze her.

“Honestly Al, how many times have we told you, you can't just wander around in my old shirt. It isn’t proper.” Peter admonished.

“Why should I care what others think?” Almira inquired sounding truly curious.

“I'll explain it later, Al,” Susan said as they turned back to face the Professor who looked a lot more comfortable now that Almira was covered.

“You seem to have upset the delicate internal balance of my housekeeper.” He informed the children.

“We're very sorry sir. It won't happen again.” Peter said as he tried to pull Susan away. He had to stop in order to grab Almira to keep her from wandering away.

“It's our sister, sir. Lucy.” Susan said ignoring Peter and Almira.

“The weeping girl.” He said while keeping half an eye on Almira.

“Yes, sir. She's upset.” Susan explained.

“Hence the weeping.” He deadpanned. Almira turned back into the conversation and giggled at hearing that.

“It's nothing. We can handle it!” Peter prompted trying to get Susan to leave again.

“Oh, I can see that.” The Professor said dryly.

“She thinks she's found a magical land,” Susan said sounding exasperated. For some odd reason, this prompted the Professor to smile. “In the upstairs wardrobe.” Susan finished. This had the Professor all but leaping out of his seat and rushing around the desk to guide Susan to the couches in the room.

“What did you say?” He demanded gently.

“Um, the wardrobe, upstairs. Lucy thinks she's found a forest inside.” Peter said as he and Susan sat on the couch. Peter pulled Almira down beside him and she huffed.

“Do I even need to be here?” She asked. Peter absently hushed her.

“She won't stop going on about it,” Susan said.

“What was it like?” The Professor asked sounding almost wistful.

“Like talking to a lunatic,” Susan said sounding like she was close to throwing her hands up.

“Susan!” Almira said sharply causing Susan to shrink in her seat. “Don't ever call someone in this family crazy again.” Almira practically hissed out.

“You're right, Al, I'm sorry, but what am I supposed to do? Magical lands in the back's of wardrobe's don’t exist.”

“I don’t care what you do about it, but we don’t call each other crazy. I've already had one talk with Edmund about this and I really don’t want to have it with every member of this family. Besides it's an insult to our host.” Almira said.

“What do you mean Al?” Peter asked at the same time the Professor spoke.

“You can sense it, can't you?” He asked sounding very excited.

“Sense what?” Almira asked already back to sounding bored.

“It's like a buzzing in the air, like standing right next to a live wire.” He explained.

“Yes, and I find it rather annoying,” Almira said with finality.

“You're not saying you believe her,” Peter said in disbelief.

“You don’t?” The Professor responded.

“Of course not! I mean, logically, it's impossible.” Susan said.

“Your logic doesn’t mean shit, Susan,” Almira informed her.

“Al!” Susan said sounding scandalized at her language.

“What do they teach in schools these days?” The Professor wondered to himself as he sat back, choosing to ignore Almira's language.

“Edmund said they were only pretending.” Peter pointed out ignoring the scoff that Almira gave at hearing that.

“And he's usually the more truthful one, is he?”

“No. This would be the first time.” Peter admitted.

“Well, if she's not mad and she's not lying, then logically we must assume she's telling the truth.” The Professor pointed out. Almira found herself actually liking this man. He saw things differently like she did.

“You're saying we should just believe her?” Peter asked.

“She's your sister, isn’t she? You’re her family! You might just try acting like one!” The Professor said lighting his pipe and fixing Susan and Peter with a stern look.


	6. Chapter 6

The Professor sent them back off to bed with the invitation for Almira to come a visit him anytime she wished. Peter and Susan looked uneasy at the invitation but said nothing. Lucy was already back in bed and asleep when Susan returned to their room and Edmund was only pretending to be asleep. Both Almira and Peter ignored him as they climbed back into bed and drifted off. Neither of them saw Edmund turn over and fix Almira with a worried look.

Edmund's meeting with the Queen had left him uneasy. When she had asked how many siblings he had something had told him to lie and so he had only told her that he had another brother and two sisters. The Queen had appeared extremely uneasy about that and Edmund had told her everything that Lucy had told him about Narnia. Honestly, Edmund knew better than to spill everything to the first pretty lady to pay him any attention, but there was something pulling on him to tell her everything he knew. By the time Edmund had agreed to bring his siblings to her, he knew something was wrong, but he was already in too deep.

He figured that he could talk to Al about it and she would know what to do. But he was reluctant like something was lingering on him preventing him from doing so. When Edmund finally drifted off to sleep his dreams were full of blood and fire and the Queen's wickedly smiling face. The morning dawned bright and sunny. When Edmund woke he saw that Almira was already gone from the room. That wasn’t unusual since she was usually the first one to wake in the mornings.

Edmund found himself feeling strangely rested even with his poor dreams the night before and resolved to speak to Al about what happened to him in Narnia. When Edmund finally found her she was drifting through the trees in a pair of rolled-up trousers, one of his old shirts and bare feet. Her black hair was unbraided and hanging around her knees in soft waves. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling softly as a light breeze ghosted over her skin. Edmund couldn’t bring himself to break her out of her reverie and decided to merely walk with her for a while instead.

Edmund only spoke to tell her that breakfast was ready and if they didn’t go they would miss it. Silently they returned to the house to find Peter and Susan barely looking awake and Lucy refusing to look at Edmund. Almira settled herself next to Lucy and began eating without speaking. By the time breakfast was finished both Peter and Susan were looking far more awake and alert.

“Anyone fancy a game of Cricket since it's so nice outside?” Peter asked. Both Susan and Edmund volunteered to join in while Lucy and Almira declined. Lucy wanted to read and Almira too engrossed with the nature around her.

“Peter winds up, poised to take yet another wicket!” Peter announced grandly like he was some kind of sports announcer. Peter threw the ball only to accidentally nail Edmund in the leg. Edmund hadn’t been paying attention like Peter had thought he had.

“Ow!” Edmund cried rubbing his now aching leg.

“Whoops! Wake up, Dolly Daydream.” Peter said with a laugh.

“Why can't we play hide-and-seek again?” Edmund asked. Almira perked up from where she was laying on the ground next to Lucy. Edmund was hiding something about his trip into Narnia, something made him want to go back.

“I thought you said it was a kids game?” Peter mocked.

“Besides we could all use the fresh air,” Susan said gesturing her head to where Almira was reclining on the ground.

“It's not like there isn’t air inside,” Edmund muttered but he couldn’t argue. Almira didn’t like to be cooped up inside for long periods. She got...irritable when she was and that was something all strove to avoid.

“Are you ready?” Peter asked, making sure Edmund was truly paying attention this time.

“Are you?” Edmund shot back and tapped his bat on the ground. Peter wound up and pitched the ball. Edmund swung and it connected with the ball at an angle and sent it shooting off toward the house. They all heard the telltale crash as the ball went through a window and crashed into something. Edmund dropped the bat and looked immediately at Peter. Almira was trying to hold back her giggles along with Lucy who was gaping.

Almost as one the siblings rushed toward the house. Almira paused in her room long enough to collect some shoes since she wasn’t about to go walking on broken glass with bare feet. Almira met up with her siblings in front of the broken window. The ball had luckily only knocked over a suit of armor and nothing breakable beyond the window.

“Oh, well done, Ed,” Peter said.

“You bowled it!” Edmund shot back.

“What on earth is going on?!” A familiar Scottish accent sounded followed by loud footsteps.

“The Macready!” Susan said urgently as if they didn’t already know that.

“Run!” Peter ordered.

Almira grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her along behind her. They ran through the house looking for places to hide. They whipped around a corner only for Edmund to start pushing them back.

“No, no, back, back, back,” Edmund whispered urgently. They sprinted through the house with Edmund leading them until they hit the spare room. Edmund shoved the door open and sprinted toward the wardrobe.

“Come on!” Edmund said gesturing frantically to the rest of them.

“Oh, you've got to be joking,” Susan said in disbelief. Peter and Susan looked like they were about to argue with him but loud footsteps stopped them and they sprinted for the wardrobe, Lucy and Almira were already in the wardrobe. Peter peered out of the crack in the wardrobe door before moving backward.

“Get back!”

“My toe!”

“I'm not on your toe! Move back!”

“Quit pulling my hair!”

“Will you stop shoving?” All the siblings griped. Peter, Susan, and Almira all fell back into something cold and wet. Almira was sprawled across Peter's lap and groaned. Peter's knee was digging into Almira's stomach and some of her ribs. Slowly Peter and Susan locked eyes before getting to their feet, Peter grabbing Almira under the arms to hoist her upright, and looking around with wide eyes.

Susan gasped in awe.

“Impossible.”

“Don't worry. I'm sure it's just your imagination.” Lucy said. Almira felt a thrill of pride to see her little sister milking this for all it was worth.

“I don’t suppose we're sorry would quite cover it.” Peter stammered out.

“No. It wouldn’t.” Lucy said before throwing a snowball and hitting Peter in the face, “but that might.” She said with a large smile. Peter threw one back and the Great Snowball Fight began.

Almira had luckily always been agile and flexible. She was dodging a fair amount of the snowballs while also throwing back. Susan threw one and it hit Edmund in the arm.

“Ow!” Edmund complained as he rubbed his arm. “Stop it!” Peter and Susan turned to Edmund with the realization that he had lied right to their faces.

“You little liar.” Peter hissed.

“You didn’t believe her, either!” Edmund yelled.

“Apologize to Lucy,” Peter demanded. Edmund said nothing and just looked at her. Peter stepped up to Edmund with the intent of forcing Edmund to say he was sorry.

“Say you're sorry.” Peter threatened.

“All right! I'm sorry.” Edmund said not sounding all that sorry.

“That's all right. Some little children just don’t know when to stop pretending.” Lucy mocked.

“Oh, very funny.” Edmund sneered at her.

“Maybe we should go back,” Susan said looking around.

“But shouldn’t we at least take a look around?” Edmund said gesturing to the winter covered landscape and trees.

“I think Lucy should decide.” Peter decided.

“I'd like you all to meet Mr. Tumnus!” Lucy exclaimed happily.

“I would very much like to meet Mr. Tumnus.” Almira said quietly to Lucy.

“Well, then Mr. Tumnus it is.” Peter said as he went back into the wardrobe.

“But we can't go hiking in the snow dressed like this,” Susan said motioning to her summer clothing. Almira was perfectly content to hike through the snow as she was. Cold and snow and ice never bothered her much. She always liked the winter months better than the summer.

“No. But I'm sure the professor won't mind us using these.” Peter said as he started handing out the fur coats that hung in the wardrobe. “Anyway, if you think about it logically, we're not even taking them out of the wardrobe,” Peter said as he shoved a coat at Edmund.

“But that's a girl's coat!” Edmund protested as Peter handed Almira the lightest of the coats in the wardrobe. Almira took it with a light grimace but put it on none the less.

“I know.” Peter said and pushed the coat into Edmund's hands.


	7. Chapter 7

The walk to Mr. Tumnus's house was full of wonder as all the siblings looked around at the winter landscape. They found the lamp post curious but said nothing more about it as they moved on. They slid down hills and tossed snow at each other, laughing and smiling as they went.

“...lots and lots of lovely food, and we'll have lots and lots...” Lucy trailed off as her eyes fixed to the mountainside. They all moved to see what Lucy was looking at and found a door that appeared to have been broken down.

“Lu?” Peter asked softly. Lucy gasped softly and took off toward the door.

“Lucy!” Almira yelled as she ran after Lucy with Peter, Susan, and Edmund behind her. They took in the ravaged house and shattered plates and pictures strewn across the floor.

“Who would do something like this?” Lucy asked brokenly. Almira saw Peter shoot Edmund a nasty look. What they all missed was the guilty look on Edmund's face as he took it all in.

Peter noticed a piece of what looked like parchment hanging on one wall and ripped it off to read it.

“The Faun Tumnus is hereby charged with High Treason against Her Imperial Majesty, Jadis, Queen of Narnia, for comforting her enemies and fraternizing with humans. Signed Maugrim, Captain of the Secret Police. Long Live the Queen.” Peter finished sounding far fainter than he had when he began.

“All right. Now we really should go back.” Susan pressed. As much as Almira wanted to explore this place she found herself agreeing with Susan. Her first concern was her family and if they were in danger here then they needed to leave.

“What about Mr. Tumnus?” Lucy demanded.

“If he was arrested just for being with a human, I don’t think there's much we can do,” Almira told her gently.

“You don’t understand, do you? _I'm_ the human!!! She must have found out he helped me!” Lucy said starting to verge into panic. 

“Maybe we could call the police?” Peter threw out.

“These are the police.” Susan pointed out. 

“Don't worry, Lu. We'll think of something.” Peter promised. Almira grabbed Peter by the scruff of his coat and dragged him away from the others so she could talk to him. 

“Peter, we aren’t going to do anything but go back the way we came,” Almira told him.

“What about Lucy's friend?” Peter said. 

“My heart breaks for him it really does. But my first priority is to make sure all of you are safe and if that means dragging Lucy back through the wardrobe and destroying the damn thing then I will. I don’t even care if she hates me for it because she and everyone else will be safe. This place isn’t safe for us anymore. Clearly something more is going on here than what we've been told.” Almira hissed.

“Lucy would never forgive you if you did that.” Peter pointed out. 

“Like I said, if she was safe, it would be worth it,” Almira said unrelenting. 

“Will you, for once, stop being so fucking self-sacrificing!” Peter said his voice having raised loud enough for the others to hear.

“Peter!” Susan said outraged at his language but both siblings ignored him. 

“Why, it's what I do. It's all I know how to do, it's all I'm good at. You think I don’t know that the rest of you act as my buffer for the rest of the world because I can't interact with it properly. You keep watching me to make sure I don’t get myself hurt. Susan makes sure I'm presentable and proper. Edmund translates me for everyone else because nothing I say or do makes sense to others. And Lucy has to act as my conscious because my mind doesn’t think the way everyone else's does because it doesn’t care about everyone else! So being self-sacrificing and making sure you're all okay is all I can do!” Almira shouted. Peter reared back in shock while the others inhaled sharply. In truth, Peter didn’t think she had noticed all of that. 

Before any of them could respond they heard what sounded like someone trying to get their attention. Susan turned to see who it was but saw nothing but a robin in a tree. 

“Did that bird just “psst” us?” Susan asked slowly like she wasn’t sure if she was going mad or not. Peter moved past Almira and outside with the rest of his siblings to see the robin take off. The rustling of bushes had Peter pushing his siblings back behind him while Almira came up on his other side, blocking them as best as they could. Somehow Almira had found a fairly sturdy looking branch and was holding it at an angle ready to hit with. They rustling continued until a beaver shuffled out from behind a boulder. 

“It...It's a beaver.” Lucy pointed out unnecessarily. Peter stepped forward and held his hand out.

“Here, boy.” He said clicking his tongue, “here, boy.” He was clicking his fingers along with his tongue now, trying to get the beaver to come to him. It seemed to be working when the beaver toddled closer. The beaver stared at the hand for a moment before it sat up.

“Well, I ain't gonna smell it, if that's what you want!” It said with a distinctly male voice. Almira could think about nothing beyond the fact that an animal was talking like a person. 

“Oh! Sorry!” Peter said backing away in shock. Lucy giggled at Peter. 

“Lucy Pevensie?” The beaver asked. Almira moved next to Lucy when she stepped forward.

“Yes?” She asked hesitantly. The beaver held out a white handkerchief to her that Lucy took from him. “Hey, that's the hankie I gave to Mr. Tum...”

“Tumnus. He got it to me just before they took him.” The beaver said sadly.

“Is he alright?” Lucy asked worriedly. The beaver gestured for them to follow him.

“Further in.” He told her and scurried off expecting them to follow. Susan was the one to grab Peter's arm and stop him when he went to follow. 

“What are you doing?!” She demanded.

“She's right. How do we know we can trust him?” Edmund seconded. 

“He said he knows the faun,” Peter said with a shrug as if that explained everything. 

“He's a beaver. He shouldn’t be saying anything!” Susan exclaimed. 

“Susan, so long as we're here, your logic is going to have to take a back seat,” Almira told her coolly. 

“Everything alright?” The beaver asked popping back over the boulder. 

“Yes. We were just talking.” Peter told him, it wasn’t a lie. 

“That's better left for safer quarters.” The beaver said lowly looking around. 

“He means the trees,” Lucy explained softly looking around as well. Edmund and Susan gave each other exasperated looks before following Peter and Lucy. Almira took up the rear, still holding onto her tree branch. 


	8. Chapter 8

The beaver led them through the cliffs and under a stone arch while chatting quietly with them. 

“Come on. We don’t want to be caught out here after nightfall.” He told them and picked up the pace. They kept traveling until they came to another cliff and were able to look down at a frozen pond, upon which a lovely looking beaver damn sat with smoke rising from the chimney. 

“Ah, blimey! Looks like the old girl has got the kettle on. Nice cup o' Rosy Lee.” The beaver said happily. 

“It's lovely,” Lucy said with a smile. 

“It's merely a trifle. Still, plenty to do. Ain't quite finished it yet. It'll look the business when it is, though.” The beaver said proudly. A female voice cut through the air at the sound of their voices. 

“Beaver, is that you? I’ve been worried sick! If I find you've been out with Badger again I...Oh!” The female beaver said when she caught sight of them. “Well, those aren’t badgers. Oh, I never thought I’d live to see this day.” She gushed before turning to the male beaver “Look at my fur. You couldn’t give me ten minutes warning.” She hissed at him. 

“I'd have given you a week if I thought it would have helped.” He chuckled. His wife looked like she was about to smack the crap out of him for that before she sighed and gestured for them to follow her into the dam. 

“Oh, come inside, and we'll see if we can't get you some food, and some civilized company,” She said with a pointed look at Mr. Beaver. Mr. Beaver chuckled as Susan, Peter, Lucy, and Almira followed her into the dam. None of them saw the confused look Mr. Beaver gave Almira's presence. Edmund stopped to look at the two mountain's the Queen had pointed out to him last time he was here. 

“Enjoying the scenery are we?” Mr. Beaver asked. Edmund shot him a look and went inside.

Mrs. Beaver had settled them at the table the moment they were in and had handed over their coats to her. Almira hoped that none of the coats were made of beaver pelt, or things might get awkward. Almira was sitting on the floor in front of Susan while she braided Almira's long hair. 

“Isn't there anything we can do to help Tumnus?” Peter asked while sipping at a hot cup of tea. 

“They'll have taken him to the Witch's. You know what they say. There's few that go through them gates that come out again.” Mr. Beaver said sadly. Mrs. Beaver dashed over to the table with a plate of food in her paws. 

“Fish 'n' chips!” She said loudly while Lucy looked crestfallen. “But there is hope, dear. Lot's of hope.” Mrs. Beaver said in an effort to cheer her up. Mr. Beaver nearly spat out his tea when his wife said that. 

“Oh, yeah, there's a right bit more than hope! Aslan is on the move!” Mr. Beaver said as if they were supposed to know who that was. Almira felt a curious feeling of attachment to that name like it was someone she knew very well. Someone she cared for deeply. Edmund moved over from his place by the stairs. 

“Who's Aslan?” Edmund asked. Mr. Beaver started laughing at the question. 

“Who's Aslan? You cheeky little blighter.” He said still laughing until Mrs. Beaver elbowed him. “What?” He asked turning to her. She gestured sharply to the confused siblings. 

“You don’t know, do you?” He asked in disbelief.

“Well, we haven’t exactly been here very long,” Peter said somewhat defensively.

“Well, he's only the king of the whole wood. The top geezer. The real King of Narnia!” Mr. Beaver exclaimed. None of them saw Edmund pull a face and walk away. 

“He's been away for a long while.” Mrs. Beaver said smiling.

“But he's just got back! And he's waitin' for you near the Stone Table!” Mr. Beaver said.

“He's waiting for us?” Lucy said in confusion. 

“You're blooming joking! They don’t even know about the prophecy!” He said in exasperation to his wife. 

“Well, then...” She said and gestured to the children. 

“Look. Aslan's return, Tumnus's arrest, the secret police, it's all happening because of you!” 

“You're blaming us?” Almira said not liking the sound of that in the slightest. 

“No! Not blaming. Thanking you!” Mrs. Beaver said quickly. 

“There's a prophecy:

When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone 

Sit's at Cair Paravel in throne,

The evil time will be over and done.” Mr. Beaver intoned lowly. There was a sense of solemnity that settled over the table by the time Mr. Beaver had finished. 

“You know that doesn’t really rhyme.” Susan pointed out, ever the voice of a mood breaker. 

“Yeah, I know it don’t, but you’re kinda missin' the point!” Mr. Beaver said loudly. 

“It has long been foretold that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve will defeat the White Witch and restore peace to Narnia.” Mrs. Beaver explained further. Suddenly Almira felt like she didn’t belong anymore. She had always thought that she was a mistake and this wasn’t making that feeling better. 

“And you think _we're_ the ones?” Peter said sounding incredulous.”

“Well, you'd better be, 'cause Aslan's already fitted out your army.” Mr. Beaver told them. That caused various reactions. Peter looked excited, Susan was scared and Lucy was very uncertain, Almira, on the other hand, felt like this was all a very bad idea. 

“Our army?” Lucy asked. 

“Mum sent us away so we wouldn’t get caught up in a war.” Susan impressed upon Peter. That caused his excitement to die off as the reality of that sunk into him.

“I think you've made a mistake. We're not heroes!” Peter exclaimed standing up. 

“We're from Finchley,” Susan added. Mr. Beaver hummed in confusion. 

“Thank you for your hospitality. But we really have to go.” Almira said standing and tieing off the braid Susan had done. 

“No, you can't just leave.” Mr. Beaver protested. 

“He's right. We have to help Mr. Tumnus.” Lucy said standing also. 

“It's out of our hands. I’m sorry, but it's time the five of us were getting home. Ed? Ed?” Peter called, turning around trying to find Edmund who had vanished from the small home. Peter turned back to Almira who looked extremely close to panicking. “I'm gonna kill him.” He said lowly.

“You may not have to. Has Edmund ever been to Narnia before?” Mr. Beaver asked.

Almira gasped sharply, looked at Peter and took off. Almira was sprinting as fast as she could, hoping to catch Ed before he was gone. Almira had just crested a hill when something tackled her to the snow. Almira twisted, trying to throw whoever it was off. 

“Damnit Al, stop it. Ed's gone.” Peter snapped holding Almira down in the snow. 

“Edmund!” Lucy shouted. 

“Shh! They'll hear ya!” Mr. Beaver said harshly. Almira managed to roll over just in time to see Edmund go through the large doors and for them to slam shut behind him. Peter pressed Almira down in the snow further before jumping off her and sprinting for the frozen castle. Mr. Beaver leaped up and caught Peter by his sleeve to stop him.

“No!” He cried.

“Get off me!” Peter demanded trying to shake the beaver off him.

“You're playing into her hands.” Mr. Beaver told them. 

“We can't just let him go!” Susan said.

“He's our brother,” Lucy added. 

“He's the bait! The Witch wants all four of you!” Mr. Beaver snapped. 

“Then I'll go,” Almira said pushing herself out of the snow crater Peter had created. 

“Like hell, you will.” Peter shot back. 

“Two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve, Peter. Not one, not three, two. I'm not needed.” Almira all but yelled. 

“I meant to ask earlier, but who are you?” Mr. Beaver asked carefully. 

“Almira Pevensie. Peter is my twin brother.” Almira said softly. 

“But that makes five, not four.” Mr. Beaver said in confusion. 

“Yes, thank you, I know how to count.” Almira snarled. 

“Why's she want all four of us?” Peter demanded. 

“To stop the prophecy from coming true! To kill ya!” Mr. Beaver exclaimed. The siblings stared at him horrified.

“This is all your fault!” Susan shouted at Peter. 

“My fault?” Peter asked gobsamcked. 

“None of this would have happened if you had just listened to me and Al in the first place!” Susan said.

“Oh, so you knew this would happen?” Peter demanded.

“I didn’t know what would happen. Which is why we should have left while we still could!” Susan was back to shouting. 

“Shut up Susan!” Almira yelled. Instantly they went silent. It was the first time they had ever heard her actually yell. “All this bitching isn’t helping. Edmund is gone and I'm going to go and get him back. You three are far too important to Narnia to be lost. So go with Mr. Beaver to see Aslan and I’ll bring Edmund along behind me once I get him out.” Almira snapped. Peter and Susan exchanged a look before Peter grabbed Almira around the waist and slung her over his shoulder. Before turning to Mr. Beaver. 

“Aslan's the only one who can help Ed, isn’t he?” Peter asked, ignoring Almira's struggles to get Peter to put her down. 

“Yes.” Mr. Beaver admitted. 

“Then take us to him,” Peter said. 

“Damnit Peter, put me down! I swear I'm going to make you regret this!” Almira swore to brother who ignored her. The sound of a howling wolf froze them all for a second before prompting Peter to put his sister down, grab her hand and start sprinting back toward the Beaver's house.


	9. Chapter 9

They burst through the door to the house at top speed and Mr. Beaver was already shouting. 

“Hurry, Mama! They're after us!” He yelled at her. 

“Oh, right then...” She said and dashed around grabbing things from various cupboards.

“What's she doing?” Peter asked. Mr. Beaver gestured that she had lost it. 

“Oh, you'll be thanking me later. It's a long journey and Beaver get's pretty cranky when he's hungry.” Mrs. Beaver said.

“I'm cranky now!” Mr. Beaver shot back.

“Do you think we'll need jam?” Susan asked as she brought things to the table to be packed. 

“Only if the Witch serves toast,” Peter said in exasperation. 

“Do you have any weapons we can use?” Almira asked Mr. Beaver. He shook his head in the negative. 

“We never needed them, though I wish we did now,” Mr. Beaver said sounding slightly bitter. Everyone froze and gasped at the sound of multiple things scratching at the wood of the dam.

Mr. Beaver ushered them into a tunnel that was almost too small for Peter, Susan, and Almira to fit into. Almira was the smallest of the eldest siblings, with Susan and Peter both being taller than her. She was about as tall as Edmund. She resigned herself a long time ago to being forever short. 

“Badger and me dug this. Comes out right near his place.” Mr. Beaver explained as they ran.

“You told me it led to your mum's!” Mrs. Beaver said. Lucy tripped over a root and fell down. They all stopped to help her up only to go still as they heard howling. 

“They're in the tunnel,” Lucy whispered. 

“Quick! This way.” Mr. Beaver called. 

“Hurry!” Mrs. Beaver encouraged.

“Run!” Peter urged.

“Quick! Quick! Quick!” Mrs. Beaver urged. They ran until they came to a dead end.

“You should have brought a map!” Mrs. Beaver snapped.

“There wasn't room next to the jam!” Mr. Beaver snapped back. He jumped up into the hole and everyone followed behind him. The primary goal being to outrun the wolves long enough to get somewhere safe. 

“Lucy!” Susan said thrusting her hand down the hole to help Lucy out. Lucy backed away as Peter and Mr. Beaver rolled a large barrel full of some kind of liquid in front of the hole to hopefully delay the wolves. Lucy cried out as she tripped backward. Mr. Beaver turned to see what it was that caused her to fall and his face fell in sorrow. Mr. Beaver walked up to the stone badger and gently touched its paw. 

“I'm so sorry, dear.” Mrs. Beaver said quietly. 

“He was my best mate.” Mr. Beaver said in a choked voice. 

“What happened here?” Peter asked quietly.

“This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch.” A new voice said from a little above them. Almira grabbed up Lucy and shoved her behind her. 

“You take one more step, traitor, and I’ll chew you to splinters!” Mr. Beaver snarled as Mrs. Beaver held him back. 

“Relax.” The fox said jumping down from his perch. “I'm one of the good guys.” He told them. 

“Yeah? Well, you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones.” Mr. Beaver said. 

“An unfortunate family resemblance. But we can argue breeding later. Right now we've got to move.” The fox said shooting Almira a confused look. She took that to mean that the fox had been watching them at least since they arrived at the Beavers dam. 

“Al?” Peter asked leaving the decision up to her since she had the clearest head now that she'd had time to calm down. She could still sense Edmund so he was obviously fine for the moment, if not a little cold. 

“We trust the fox for now. If he turns out to be a liar and a traitor then I’ll turn him into a hat or something for your mother.” Almira said keeping her red eyes locked on the fox who shrunk back from her intense gaze. 

“Alright, what did you have in mind?” Peter asked resulting in the fox smiling.


	10. Chapter 10

Almira held tightly onto Lucy as the barrel they had rolled in front of the exit was shoved away by the wolves. Luckily they didn’t notice the fox brushing out their tracks with his tail. 

“Greetings, gents. Lost something, have we?” He mocked.

“Don't patronize me! I know where your allegiance lies. We're looking for some humans.” The lead wolf said in a gravelly voice as he circled the fox. The fox laughed.

“Humans? Here in Narnia? That's a valuable bit of information, don't you think?” One of the other wolves pounced on the fox, grabbing him up between their jaws causing him to yelp. Lucy gasped and Almira covered her mouth with her hand to keep her quiet. 

“Your reward is your life. It's not much, but still. Where are the fugitives?” The wolf demanded sharply. The fox quickly glanced up at the tree Almira and the others were hiding in. The fox hung his head in shame before sighing and pointing with his paw.

“North. They ran North.” He said. 

“Smell them out.” The head wolf ordered. The wolf that had grabbed the fox tossed him to the side where he yelped again and tried to get up before collapsing back down into the snow. 

They waited until the Beavers, who had much better hearing than the humans, gave the okay to jump down. Lucy was the first one down, running to the fox to make sure he was okay. Peter and Almira hunted out some firewood for a small fire and they settled around it while Mrs. Beaver sorted out the fox's wounds.

“What happened here exactly?” Peter asked gently. 

“They were helping Tumnus. The Witch got here before I did. Ow! Oh!” The fox yelped as Mrs. Beaver hit a particularly sore spot. 

“Are you alright?” Lucy asked, ever the bleeding heart of the group. 

“Well, I wish I could say their bark is worse than their bite. Ow!” He yelped again trying to squirm away. 

“Stop squirming! you’re worse than Beaver on bath day!” Mrs. Beaver exclaimed. 

“Worst day of the year.” Mr. Beaver said with a shudder, earning a chuckle from Peter, Susan, and Lucy. 

“Thank you for your kindness, but that's all the cure I have time for.” The fox announced as he got to his feet. 

“You're leaving?” Lucy asked in concern. 

“It has been a pleasure, My Queen, and an honor, but time is short and Aslan himself has asked me to gather more troops.” The fox told them. Again Almira got that warm soothing feeling at hearing the name Aslan. 

“You've seen Aslan?” Mr. Beaver asked in awe. 

“What's he like?” Mrs. Beaver asked, something close to reverence in her voice. Almira noted that it was how most spoke of Aslan.

“Like everything we've ever heard. You'll be glad to have him by your side in the battle against the Witch.” The fox said. 

“But we're not planning on fighting any witch.” Susan protested.

“But surely, King Peter, the prophecy!” The fox said stunned. 

“We can't go to war without you.” Mr. Beaver added. 

“I just want our brother back and to take my th-” Peter started before Almira cut him off. 

“Peter just wants to get Ed back and take his sister's home. Their mum sent them away from a war, the last thing they or she would want was to get into another one.” Almira said. Peter was staring at Almira while Susan and Lucy both looked confused, along with the Beavers. 

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask, who are you?” The fox inquired. 

“Almira James. I'm a family friend. My mother sent me with Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy to the same place before we all ended up here.” Almira lied smoothly. She looked different enough from the rest of her siblings that she could play off not being related to them. The fox seemed to sag in relief at Almira's words before bowing to them and running off into the night. 

Peter waited until Mr. Beaver had given the signal before asking his questions.

“What the hell was that about?” He demanded. 

“These people put a lot of stock in this prophecy of theirs. Four people. Two girls, and two boys to rule their land. That prophecy is their hope, it's what their lives are riding on, why they fight, why they get up in the mornings. If it was known that there were actually five siblings instead of two they would lose that hope, which means that they'd lose this war of theirs too. So for as long as we're here. I'm Almira James, a close family friend.” Almira said. 

“We can talk later. For now, we need to get some rest. Lot's of ground to cover tomorrow.” Mrs. Beaver said and bustled them all into a pile to sleep. She paused to give Almira a thankful look and Almira nodded her head in response.


	11. Chapter 11

Almira had trouble sleeping that night. She still had the link to her siblings, but since they'd been here the link had changed. She was now feeling what they were feeling as well as where they were. Edmund was fine, just cold and a little hungry. The next morning things were tense as they packed up their little camp before moving out. 

They walked in silence until they reached another stone bridge and Susan and Peter stopped to look at the scenery. 

“Now, Aslan's camp is near the Stone Table just across the frozen river.” Mr. Beaver explained. 

“River?” Peter asked.

“Oh, the river's been frozen solid for a hundred years.” Mrs. Beaver reassured. 

“It's so far.” Peter breathed at the sight of never-ending winter as far as the eye could see. 

“Its the word, dear. Did you expect it to be small?” Mrs. Beaver asked in amusement. 

“Smaller,” Susan admitted.

They made it down to a massive frozen lake and were little more than halfway across when the patience that Peter seemed to possess was close to snapping.

“Come on, humans! While we're still young.” Mr. Beaver urged Peter bent down to give Lucy a piggyback ride.

“If he tells us to hurry one more time, I'm going to turn him into a big, fluffy hat,” Peter said as he hoisted Lucy up onto his back. 

“Hurry up! Come on!” Mr. Beaver called. 

“He is getting a little bossy.” Lucy agreed. 

“No! Behind you! It's her!” Mrs. Beaver cried. Peter turned around to see a sleigh rushing toward them at full speed. 

“Run! Run!” Mr. Beaver yelled as he and Mrs. Beaver and Susan took off across the lake. Almira dropped back to grab Lucy’s other hand once Peter pulled her off his back and started sprinting. 

“Run!” Peter yelled as they ran. If they could make it into the woods then they'd be home free. It would be much easier for them to maneuver in the close trees than a large sleigh. The sleigh was gaining on them by the second but finally, they made it into the woods following behind Mr. Beaver. 

“Hurry!” Peter urged Lucy along.

“Inside! Dive! Dive!” Mr. Beaver said gesturing to a small cave which was just barely big enough to fit all of them. They went still and silent, watching the shadow on the snow mound in front of them. Snow dropped down as someone moved about over them and then walked away. 

“Maybe she's gone?” Lucy whispered. Almira saw Peter steel himself before nodding slightly.

“I suppose I’ll go look,” Peter said and tensed to move only for Mr. Beaver to grab him and whisper harshly.

“No! You’re worth nothing to Narnia dead!” He told Peter as he started climbing out.

“Well, neither are you, Beaver.” Mrs. Beaver shot back. Mr. Beaver took her paw in his with a smile.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He told her before scrambling out on top of their little cave. They waited anxiously for Beaver to come back and Peter tightened his hold on Almira's hand. 

“What's that? What's...” Susan whispered softly.

“Shh, shh, shh.” Peter sushed. Almira wished she hadn’t lost her tree branch because then at least she would have something she could use to fight the Witch off with, even if it would be a very short fight. Mr. Beaver suddenly popped his head down and Lucy jerked back with a shriek.

“Come out! Come out! I hope you’ve all been good 'cause there's someone here to see ya!” Mr. Beaver said practically vibrating with excitement. Almira was the first one to climb out before freezing. It was a large man in a red coat with red leather accents. He had a large bushy beard and was driving a sleigh. Almira felt her brain momentarily shut down before re-starting.

“Merry Christmas, sir,” Lucy said joyfully as she bounced toward the man. 

“It certainly is, Lucy, since you have arrived.” The man Almira knew to be Father Christmas said happily. 

“Look, I’ve put up with a lot since I got here, but this...” Susan said trailing off. Almira wound her fingers through Susan's as a show of comfort.

“We thought you were the Witch,” Peter explained, ignoring his sister for the moment. 

“Yes, yes, I'm sorry about that, but in my defense, I have been driving one of these longer than the Witch.” Father Christmas said gesturing to his sleigh.

“I thought there was no Christmas in Narnia,” Susan said sounding suspicious.

“No. Not for a long time. But the hope that you have brought, Your Majesties, is finally starting to weaken the Witch's power.” He said as he stripped off his driving gloves. “Still, I dare say you could do with these.” He said as he reached back for the large sack and hauled it out.

“Presents!” Lucy cried running up to him. He pulled out a hard red leather belt with a little pouch on the side and a small bottle of something red-colored.

“The juice of the fire-flower. One drop will cure any injury. And though I hope you never have to use it...” He trailed off and presented Lucy with a little dagger. Almira felt her hackles rise at the thought of Lucy having to use it for any reason beyond cutting rope or cloth. 

“Thank you, sir, but I think I could be brave enough,” Lucy said unsure. Father Christmas chuckled a little.

“I'm sure you could. But battles are ugly affairs.” He told her before turning to Susan next who stepped up in front of him. “Susan.” He handed her a bow and a quiver full of arrows which she took with great reluctance. “Trust in this bow and it will not easily miss.”

“What happened to “battles are ugly affairs”?” Susan asked. 

“Though you don’t seem to have a problem making yourself heard.” He presented her with an elegantly carved ivory horn. “Blow on this horn and wherever you are, help will come.”

“Thanks,” Susan said and stepped back. 

“Beautiful, Almira.” Father Christmas called causing the girl in question to step forward in confusion. “You are a strong girl, who won't hesitate to fight for your family against any foe. Your strength lies in your balance against your siblings, and to help you fight your battles I give you these.” He handed Almira a dark red leather belt upon which two long swords hung. Almira got the feeling that they were longer than was probably normal for a girl her size, but they felt incredibly light in terms of weight. 

Almira drew one of the swords from its scabbard and saw that it was a double-edged sword with a very sharp looking point. Almira returned that sword to its sheath before drawing the other one and saw that it was the same. The hilts were wrapped with white leather and the pommel was of a moon. But what was most interesting was that the blades themselves weren’t silver like a normal sword, but white. They were beautiful and Almira felt an instant connection with them. 

Also hanging on the belt were two long knives that appeared to match the swords. Only they had long white ribbons dangling from their hilts. Almira looked up at Father Christmas with awe in her eyes. 

“Thank you,” She whispered. 

“I know you don’t feel like you help much, but your role here is much bigger than anyone suspects and soon you'll understand why.” Father Christmas assured her. Almira bowed and stepped back next to Peter who stepped forward only to be handed a stunning sword much like Almira's own in a red scabbard with a lion's head surrounded by a sun for a pommel. Peter was also handed a silver shield with a red lion rearing back painted on it. Peter drew the sword out to look at it and Almira was quite impressed with it.

“Peter. The time to use these may be near at hand.” Father Christmas cautioned. 

“Thank you, sir,” Peter said softly.

“These are tools, not toys. Bear them well and wisely. Now, I must be off. Winter is almost over, and things do pile up when you've been gone a hundred years.” He said as he hauled the sack back into his sleigh before climbing in himself. “Long live Aslan! And Merry Christmas!” He called as the sleigh departed. The Pevensie siblings all waved at the departing sleigh and called out well wishes until he was out of sight. Lucy turned to Susan with a smug look.

“Told you he was real.” She said.

“He said winter was almost over. You know what that means. No more ice!” Peter said


	12. Chapter 12

The run to the river was slightly hampered by the siblings adjusting to the new weight of their weapons on their bodies but was still made in good time. Sadly it wasn’t time enough. By the time they reached the river, it was already unfreezing with large chunks of ice breaking free and floating away with the current. Almira figured that if they got down there fast enough and hurried across they'd be okay. Almira really wanted to avoid a dip in the river if she could. 

Peter grabbed Almira's hand in his and they began to make their way down only to be stopped by Susan. 

“We need to cross, now!” Peter said. 

“Don't beavers make dams?” Lucy asked looking down at their companions. 

“I'm not that fast, dear.” Mr. Beaver responded helplessly. 

“Come on!” Peter urged starting down again.

“Wait! Will you just think about this for a minute?” Susan said sounding panicked. 

“We don’t have a minute.” Peter shot back. 

“I'm just trying to be realistic.” Susan snapped.

“No, you’re trying to be smart. As usual.” Peter said and they descended as quickly as they could while still being careful of the frozen landscape. Peter stepped onto the ice only for it to separate from the bank and dip down. Peter jerked back and nearly fell.

“Wait. Maybe I should go first.” Mr. Beaver said and edged out onto the ice.

“Maybe you should.” Peter agreed. 

They watched as Mr. Beaver began tapping at the ice with his feet and tail, trying to find the strongest way across. 

“You've been sneaking second helpings, haven’t you?” Mrs. Beaver demanded. Almira didn’t really think that now was the time for this particular conversation. 

“Well, you never know which meal's gonna be your last. Especially with your cooking.” Mr. Beaver answered back. Peter and Almira started out across the ice with Lucy and Susan following behind them. They were trying to move as lightly and quickly as possible across the ice.

“If mum knew what we were doing...” Susan said before trailing off.

“Mother's not here.” Almira hissed. She was a little too stressed to be dealing with Susan at the moment. 

“Oh, no!” Lucy said as she pointed at the top of the waterfall. Running across the top were their four-legged hunters. 

The wolves had finally caught up to them. 

“Run!” Peter yelled as they abandoned being careful with speed, unfortunately, the wolves were faster and cut off their way forward. Peter looked back and saw that the wolves had also cut off escape from behind. Mr. Beaver tried to threaten the wolves only for one of them to pounce on him and pin him to the ice. 

“No!” Mrs. Beaver yelled at the same time Lucy yelled for Peter.

Almira shifted so that she was at the back with Susan and Lucy in the middle between her and Peter. Peter drew his sword while Almira palmed one of her knives, holding it by the long ribbon attached to its hilt. 

“Put that down, boy. Someone could get hurt.” The wolf Almira assumed was Maugrim mocked. 

“Don't worry 'bout me! Run him through!” Mr. Beaver ordered when Peter looked at the pinned beaver. Peter looked back at Maugrim.

“Leave now while you can, and your brother goes with you,” Maugrim said. Like hell, Almira believed that. 

“Stop, Peter! Maybe we should listen to him!” Susan shouted. 

“Like hell! You can kiss my lily-white ass you gray bastard!” Almira shouted over Susan who was so shocked at her sister's language that she actually went speechless, while Maugrim looked like he didn’t know whether or not to be insulted or to laugh. 

“Don't listen to him! Kill him! Kill him now!” Mr. Beaver shouted.

“Oh, come on. This isn’t your war. All my Queen wants is for you to take your family and go.” Maugrim pushed. Almira had to admit that the wolf was good at what he did, but it wasn’t going to work. Though it didn’t help that Peter looked like a scared little boy at the moment. 

“Look, just because some man in a red coat hands you a sword, it doesn’t make you a hero! Just drop it!” Susan shouted.

“For the love of Christ shut the fuck up Susan! If you can't encourage him then keep your mouth shut. The last thing we need right now is your goddamned negativity! As for this not being our war, wolf, your Queen made it ours when she lied to Edmund!” Almira shouted before shoving Peter out of the way to march right up to Maugrim who looked incredibly intrigued by Almira. “Do you want to know a secret, Maugrim.” Almira all but caressed the name and Maugrim couldn’t help the responsive shiver. “Your Queen isn’t going to win this. She's strong, no doubt of that, but you see she lost the moment she took Edmund. I'm extremely possessive over that which is mine and all the Pevensie children are mine. I will take back what is mine and your Queen will beg for death before the end. The only question is if you’re going to join her in death. I'd rather you didn’t, you’re strong, loyal and one hell of a good tracker and warrior it would be a great shame to see you gone before you could prove yourself. Besides what's she ever done for you?” Almira whispered. Maugrim was entranced by Almira's voice and actually found himself considering her words. 

“Nothing.” He whispered before he could stop himself. 

“Nothing. You know you don’t want to do this. You know you don’t want to hurt us. We'll win this war and when we do you won't be thrown into the shadows and forgotten like she would do to you if you died while serving her. Why not save yourself and join the winning side?” Almira pressed as she reached out and actually stroked along the side of Maugrim's snout. There was a low whine in Maugrim's throat which let Almira know that she had won. 

“Who would I serve then?” He asked to low for anyone other than Almira to hear. 

“Who would you want?” Almira asked instead. If she was really going to seal this then she had to give him this choice. 

“You.” The word was out before he could stop it and he bowed his head. 

“Then welcome to the winning side,” Almira said and stepped back. “You know what to do.” Almira got out before Peter grabbed her around the waist and dragged her back all the while demanding to know what the hell she had been thinking. Maugrim made a show of shaking his head like he was shaking off her influence before briefly glancing at her. 

“No, Peter! Narnia needs ya! Gut him while you still have a chance!” Mr. Beaver yelled as he tried to get out of the wolf's hold. 

“What's it going to be, Son of Adam? I won't wait forever. And neither will the river.” Maugrim snarled out. Almira quirked a brow at Maugrim's plan. This was very risky for the two-legged people of the group.

“Peter!” Lucy cried looking up horrified. Peter looked up to see the waterfall beginning to crack and collapse.

“Hold onto me!” Peter yelled before looking around and stabbing his sword into the ice, creating a handhold for Peter. 


	13. Chapter 13

While the others knelt and clung to Peter, Almira had whipped her knife at the wolves that had blocked their escape back and managed to kill two of them before they realized what had happened and attacked. 

Almira let out a cry when one of the wolves slashed at her side with their claws followed by a bite to her forearm. Her cry was covered by the waterfall fully collapsing into the river. Just before the sheet of ice hit, Almira jabbed her knife into the wolf's skull that had bit her. She stabbed so hard that she actually ended up stabbing herself in the arm as well. She managed to yank the knife out and re-sheathe it right as the water slammed into her. 

As much as Almira enjoyed the cold she did not enjoy cold water and the river was downright glacial in terms of temperature. Almira was thankfully a strong swimmer, but that didn’t change the fact that it was fucking freezing in the water and the current was moving very fast, faster than she thought it had been. Almira saw a blurry figure paddling toward her before jaws were gripping her shoulder as gently as they could while still being able to drag her. Almira broke the surface with a pained sputter. She was going to have more bite marks to join the ones on her arm and the claw marks on her side. 

Almira grabbed Maugrim by one foreleg and began swimming for the bank of the river. Both of them flopped onto the bank panting hard. 

“I swear, the first thing I'm gonna do when I get the chance is punch that wintery bitch in the face.” Almira panted laying on her back. Next to her Maugrim let out a gasping chuckle before climbing to his feet and staggering to the treeline for a few moments. He came back carefully dragging something along the ground. Almira saw it was a large dead leaf that had been carefully shaped into a kind of bowl. It was filled with a thick red liquid that reminded Almira of tree sap. Maugrim tugged it to her and carefully nudged it at her.

“You should drink this. It will help you.” He told her. Without hesitating Almira gently picked up the leaf and tossed back the liquid. Almira coughed harshly at the metallic tang. Her mouth was filled with blood from having hit one of the ice chunks so she couldn’t tell what it tasted like. Still, Almira felt a lovely warmth filling her and she did feel stronger. Almira carefully rolled onto her non-injured side and pushed herself up onto her hands and knees before staggering to her feet. 

“Are you alright, Milady?” Maugrim asked in concern as he watched Almira haul herself upright. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Are you alright?” She asked back. Maugrim blinked in shock, he wasn’t used to people being concerned for him.

“Yes. I am uninjured. Something that can not be said for you by the smell of things, Milady.” Maugrim answered.

“First things, my name is Almira, you can call me Al or Mira. None of this Milady crap, I'm not nobility. As for injured one of the other wolves got in a good shot at my side and a lovely bite, but the swim in the river cleaned the wounds well enough. A little crafting with my shirt and trousers and I’ll have some bandages to wrap around the injuries until we get to somewhere more medically equipped.” Almira said as she moved to the nearest tree to do as she had said.

Five minutes later and Almira was padding the long, deep gashes on her side with one of her wool trouser legs. The other leg was used to pad her stab wound and the various bite marks now adorning her body. This left her with barely any trouser legs, no sleeves in her shirt and missing almost all of the lower portion of her shirt. But at least she wasn’t in danger of bleeding out anytime soon. Almira rested against one of the trees for a few moments before she could hear Peter and Susan yelling for her and Lucy. 

Almira sighed and pushed off the tree and moved in the direction of her siblings. Maugrim was padding next to her, his fur brushing her uninjured side as they moved. They came across a near-frozen Lucy who sucked in a breath to scream when she saw Maugrim. 

“No, Lucy!” Almira said cutting her off before she could start. “Maugrim's on our side now, trust me, he won't hurt any of us,” Almira promised. Lucy looked to Maugrim who bowed to her. Lucy beamed at the wolf happily before looking Almira over with a critical eye. 

“Al, what happened to your shirt and trousers?” She asked. 

“They got all torn up in the river so I hacked them off so they wouldn’t be in the way.” Almira lied. Lucy sighed heavily.

“You know Peter and Susan are going to throw a fit when they see you,” Lucy said as they began walking toward Peter and Susan's voices. 

“Not much they can do about it. Susan and Peter's clothes are both too big for me, and you’re too small.” Almira said with a smile. Lucy shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as they came into view of Peter and Susan.

“Has anyone seen my coat?” Lucy called cutting off Susan's next yell of her name. Peter looked close to fainting with relief upon seeing them. That relief vanished the moment he saw Maugrim next to Almira. 

“Al! Get away from him!” Peter ordered going for his sword only to have Almira's knife lock his sword into its sheath. 

“Easy Peter. Maugrim's on our side now. That last bit at the waterfall was all for show. He was the one who warned you about the waterfall unfreezing. Not to mention he dragged me out of the river.” Almira explained, straining against Peter's higher muscle mass. While Almira was pretty strong, Peter was just ever so stronger than her, enough to make her strain and really work to hold him down. 

“It's true. I have Bound myself to Lady Mira.” Maugrim said bowing his head. He missed the glare that Almira shot him when he called her Lady. The Beavers both gasped sharply at Maugrim's words before yanking harshly on Peter's soaked coat. 

“Peter, there's nothing you can do now. If Maugrim really has Bound himself to Miss. Almira then killing him would hurt and possibly kill her.” Mrs. Beaver cautioned. That had Peter ripping his hand off his sword immediately. 

“What's it mean that he's Bound himself to her?” Peter demanded, still glaring at the wolf. 

“It means that he has chosen to be her life long companion. There hasn’t been a true Bonding since the beginning of Narnia. It means that they can't lie to each other. If Maugrim looks her in the eyes and tells her that he has bound himself to her then it is the truth. Have you shared blood?” Mrs. Beaver asked Almira. Susan and Lucy both looked grossed out at the idea.

“Huh, so that's what that was.” Almira mused out loud. 

“You drank his blood?!” Peter yelled in a pitch that probably shouldn’t have been possible for a fifteen-year-old boy. 

“In his defense, he told me it would help me before he told me to drink it. Besides he'd just saved my life. It would be kind of counterproductive to kill me after all that.” Almira pointed out calmly. 

“That's not the point, Al! You don’t just drink random peoples blood!” Peter yelled. 

“Did he taste your blood, Miss. Almira?” Mrs. Beaver asked loudly interrupting whatever Almira was going to say to Peter, no doubt it would have been quite rude.

“Yeah. He grabbed my shoulder and dragged me out of the river.” Almira answered back with a careless shrug, ignoring the fiery pain that spread through her shoulder at the action.

“Well, then that's all there is too it.” Mr. Beaver said.

“He's right. We need to be on our way.” Mrs. Beaver agreed. She stopped for a moment to stare ahead of her. “And I don’t think you'll be needing those coats anymore,” She said sounding breathless. They followed her eyes to a tree that was blooming right before their eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

Peter, Susan, and Lucy all left their coats behind as they walked through the slowly blooming forest. They were in awe as the seasons so suddenly changed and even Almira was glad to feel the summery-spring warmth. She jerked to a stop and gasped as a sharp pain flared in her face. She knew that pain, it was the pain of being smacked hard by someone else. Maugrim pressed closer to her side in response to the sudden pain.

“Al? What is it? What's wrong?” Susan asked as the others stopped. 

“It's Edmund.” She breathed. 

“What about Edmund?” Peter demanded as he shuffled down so that he was level with her. His eyes widened as they caught sight of the bright red mark on her cheek. 

“It's the bond. It's gotten stronger since we arrived here. It used to be I knew where all of you were, but now it's like I'm connected to you. I know what you’re feeling. If you're cold, warm, panicked, happy, sad, angry, hurt. Edmund's just been hurt and I felt it, hell I have the mark!” Almira said slightly panicked at what it could mean. It was possible that if something fatal happened to one of the others, it would take her along for the ride. 

“Hey, hey! It'll be okay, Al. Aslan will know what to do about this. He can fix it until then we'll all be careful. Okay?” Peter said pulling Almira into a hug and petting her tangled braid. Almira nodded into his chest before pulling away and threading her fingers through Maugrim's fur as they resumed walking. 

About an hour later they stopped long enough for the others to pull off their socks and jackets and for Peter to roll his shirt sleeves up. Almira was getting very tired and she knew that wasn’t a good sign since she was still bleeding from the gashes in her side. Man was Peter going to mad when he realized that she was injured and didn’t say anything. Almira was walking at the back of the group with Maugrim whose fur she had a fairly tight grip on. Almira cursed as she stumbled over nothing yet again and Maugrim sighed.

He moved in front of her, stopping her and bent down.

“Climb on my back, I’ll carry you the rest of the way,” Maugrim said.

“No, you aren’t a pack mule, Grimm. Besides I'm fine just a little tired.” Almira said trying to wave him off. 

“Mira, you've started to bleed through your bandages and if you don’t want King Peter to notice the blood then I’d climb on.” Maugrim pointed out. Almira bit her lip to avoid cursing before nodding her head. 

“If anyone asks I'm just tired. They'll believe it since I haven’t slept since we got here.” Almira said as she pulled herself onto his back. Maugrim was much larger than the average wolf reaching to peter's chest when he was standing. Almira didn’t know if that was because Maugrim was the former Captain of the Secret Police or if that was just a staple of his particular breed. Almira hauled herself, carefully, onto Maugrim's back and he moved to catch up with the others. 

“What's wrong with Al?” Susan asked Maugrim. 

“Nothing Susan. I'm just tired. I haven’t slept in days.” Almira said. Susan nodded and turned back to the walk.

They had finally left the woods and were now in a large grassy plain that met up with another forest. Two massive dark red tents were situated almost at the tree line on a small rocky shelf. Maugrim and Almira watched Lucy pause in front of a beautiful dogwood tree. A person slowly formed out of the scattering blossoms and waved at Lucy and Almira. The girls waved back and followed Peter and Susan as they entered the camp. 

All the various creatures, Fauns, Centaurs and Bears and various kinds of animals all stopped to watch as they passed through the camp. More than one unkind look was given to Maugrim followed by a confused one to Almira. 

“Why are they all staring at us?” Susan asked as they walked through the camp.

“Maybe they think you look funny,” Lucy answered with a smile.

“Oi, stop your fussing. You look lovely.” Mr. Beaver said to his wife who was trying to smooth her fur down.

As they came to the shelf holding the two tents Almira patted Maugrim gently to let her down. She had the feeling that this was something she needed to be standing for. A very official-looking centaur was standing to the right of one of the tents. He was staring at Peter like he was waiting for him to do something. Peter pulled his sword out and held the point toward the sky.

“We have come to see Aslan,” Peter said trying to sound a lot more authoritative than he actually did. 

A warm breeze ruffled the tent flap and almost in unison, the entire camp knelt, including Maugrim who looked seconds away from rolling over and showing his belly. Almira admitted that she wasn’t sure what Aslan would look like, but a big ass fucking lion wasn’t anywhere on any list she might have made. It took her a second to realize all her siblings had knelt as well and she was the only dumb ass still standing. Almira dropped to her knees as quickly as she could without aggravating her injuries any more than they already were. She wasn’t sure how well that worked out for her. 

“Welcome, Peter, Son of Adam. Welcome Susan, Lucy and Almira, Daughters of Eve. Welcome to you Beavers and welcome Maugrim, Bonded of Almira. You have my thanks, but where is the fifth?” Aslan inquired, though Almira knew that Aslan already knew the answer.

“That's why we're here, sir. We need your help.” Almira said speaking before Peter could.

“We had a little trouble along the way,” Susan added.

“Their brother's been captured by the White Witch,” Almira said.

“Captured? How could this happen?” Aslan demanded even while he fixed Almira with a look that said he knew Almira was lying.

“He betrayed them, Your Majesty.” Mr. Beaver said hesitantly. This caused more of a murmur among the gathered people than Maugrim had. 

“Then he has betrayed us all!” The official-looking centaur bellowed. 

That had Almira's hands jumping to the hilts of her swords and stepping toward him with the intent of making him take it back. Maugrim lightly tugged at what remained of her trousers to prevent her from attacking the centaur. 

“That's a lie!” Almira shouted since Maugrim wasn’t going to let her try and beat the hell out of the centaur. “Ed was deceived by the Witch. None of us knew anything about this place and she was the first person he met. She lied to him and enthralled him. You all seem so content to forget the fact that Edmund is a child, we all are! And we've been thrown into this with no knowledge of anything at all about this place. So next time you want to start throwing accusations around maybe you should think first!” Almira yelled at the centaur who flinched back from her. 

“Peace, Oreius, Almira. It will not due to bicker among each other.” Aslan ordered as Peter brought Almira to stand next to him.

“It's my fault Ed, fell for her lies in the first place. I was too hard on him.” Peter admitted. 

“We all were,” Susan admitted.

“Sir, he's our brother,” Lucy said plaintively.

“I know, dear one. But that only makes it all the worse. This may be harder than you think. Now, you should all rest, I'm sure you’re very tired and Almira needs medical treatment urgently.” Aslan announced. Almira winced as he said that because immediately Peter was all over her demanding to know what happened. Lucy looked close to crying, wondering why she hadn’t said anything so that Lucy could have healed her with her healing cordial.

“My injuries aren’t bad enough to need your fire-flower juice,” Almira told her softly. It was a bald-faced lie, but Lucy would need all the juice for the battle ahead. 

“Bullshit,” Peter said as he scooped Almira up into his arms and followed the faun that had appeared to tend to Almira's wounds, Maugrim trotting next to him. 

He directed them to the tent that Aslan hadn’t come out of. 

“Now I know where all your clothes went to,” Peter muttered as he sat Almira on one of the cots. Maugrim jumped up behind her so that she was leaning against him. Almira already well aware of the procedure stripped her shirt off ignoring the stuttering faun who was going on about Peter needing to leave for propriety's sake since she was going to be half-naked. 

“Look, doc Peter's been patching me up for years. Trust me I have nothing that he hasn’t seen before.” Almira said as she carefully pulled the bloody cloth away from her side. 

“Bloody hell.” Peter breathed as he took in the large slashes marring his sister's side. “Why didn’t you say something?” Peter asked. 

“Because at the time it didn’t feel this bad,” Almira said with a sigh. Peter was stopped from answering when Aslan entered the tent. Aslan didn’t seem at all bothered by Almira's half-nakedness. The faun took Aslan's presence as a dismissal since he rushed out of the tent like his tail was on fire. 

“Peter, I would have a word with Almira, if I may.” It wasn’t really a request and Peter hesitated but bowed and left none the less. Aslan turned to Almira and breathed gently on her. She felt a tingle in all her wounds and watched in awe as they all healed up until they were nothing but large vivid scars on her skin. 

“I could not heal them without leaving a mark, too much time passed between you receiving them and your arrival here for that,” Aslan explained. Almira shrugged.

“Scars don’t bother me. It only proves that I was stronger than whatever tried to hurt me.” Almira told him.

“A good attitude to have. Tell me about this bond you have with your siblings.” Aslan commanded. Almira felt Maugrim jerk where she was laying against him. On instinct, she lifted her hand and smoothed it through his soft fur. 

“When we arrived here in Narnia and were told about the prophecy the Beavers already knew about the five of us. No doubt Lucy told Tumnus but since you didn’t know that means that Edmund never told Jadis that there were five of us and not four. I could see how much hope the Beavers put into this prophecy, all the denizens we met did. I couldn’t take that hope from them so I just said that I was a family friend of the Pevensie's who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and not Peter's twin sister.” Almira explained to Maugrim before moving on to answer the question that Aslan initially asked. That took more time than Almira explained because she also somehow ended up explaining to them how she was so different from her siblings and their roles in her life and how other humans treated them because of it.

By the time she was done she actually felt the stinging of tears in her eyes as she realized just how odd she was to other people, and how much she felt she fit in here. She never realized it until now how easily she was able to converse with the denizens here, how they didn’t find her strange beyond being human. She realized how much she never wanted to leave Narnia. Almira turned and threw her bloodied arms around Maugrim's neck and buried her face in the scuff of his neck. She just breathed until she felt she had herself under control. 

When she looked up Aslan was looking at her with sympathy and understanding. 

“Your purpose here is not like that of your siblings. Tell me, do you like the cold?”

“Yes. It's soothing. Spring and summer are nice, I suppose but they're just too much in terms of heat, though autumn is nice too. I've always been more at home in the cold than anything else.” Almira told him. 

“You're special, Almira. Your purpose here in Narnia is even more important than that of your other siblings. It is time that you knew of it.” Aslan said as he settled himself on the carpeted floor of the tent. 


	15. Chapter 15

Peter stood on a hill looking toward a great castle built into the side of a mountain. Peter had finally changed out of his ripped and dirty clothes into a pair of tight olive green trousers tucked into brown boots that reached his knees. He was wearing a light blue-grey, long-sleeved, shirt of a comfortable woven fabric. Over that, he wore a flexible, light brown, leather tunic which fell to just above mid-thigh. He wore his sword strapped to his hip and his shield was nowhere in sight.

Peter was worried about Al. She had been speaking to Aslan for hours now and he hoped that she was doing okay. The moment he had seen her injuries he had felt like the biggest failure of a brother ever. Not only was Edmund captured by some evil queen of a fantasy land, but his sister was on the verge of dying from blood loss. He couldn’t help but feel like Susan was right and they should have left when they could. 

To Peter family was everything and he felt like it was splintering. He couldn’t help but feel a little jealous at how easily Al seemed to fit here. Peter had never heard her speak so much in so short an amount of time. It was like this place was opening her up to allow everyone to see the beauty, grace, and smarts that hid beneath. Peter feared what would happen to his twin when they had to go home. 

Peter turned as he heard something pad up next to him. He turned to see the Great Lion himself.

“That is Cair Paravel, the castle of the four thrones. In one of which you will sit, Peter, as High King.” Peter didn’t speak. “You doubt the prophecy?” Aslan asked. 

“No. That's just it. Aslan, I'm not what you all think I am. Besides, there's five of us and I would never leave Al behind. People are always doing that to her and I refuse to become one of them. All of us feel that way. None of us would ever take a throne if she didn’t have one too.” Peter said passionately.

“Peter Pevensie, formerly of Finchley. Beaver also mentioned you planned on turning him into a hat.” Aslan chuckled. “Peter, there is a Deep Magic, more powerful than any of us that rules over all of Narnia. It defines right from wrong and governs all our destinies. Yours...and mine and even Almira's. She has a destiny far beyond yours and the others, but rest assured that all will be as it should. Your desire to not leave your sister behind like others have means more than you could imagine to her. Trust in the Deep Magic, and if nothing else trust in your sister. I have spoken to her of her fate and she has accepted it.” Aslan told him in his gentle powerful voice.

“How can I do this when I couldn’t even protect my own family?” Peter asked.

“You've brought them safely this far,” Aslan reassured. Peter couldn’t help his scoff at that.

“Al nearly bled to death and Edmund is a prisoner of a war we didn’t even know existed.”

“Peter, I will do what I can to help your brother, but I need you to consider what I ask of you. I too want my family safe." Aslan said softly.   


"How do I do this? How do I become some great leader?" Peter couldn't help but ask. 

"By doing what you have been. You are already a great leader. You just have to believe in yourself, like your siblings do." Aslan said with a smile in his voice. 

The Great Lion left after that. Peter was once again left with only his thoughts. Aslan clearly believed in him and while that was all well and good. The problem was that Peter didn't believe in himself. How could he? 

The sight of his twin bloodied and injured once again reared its ugly head. That was an image that Peter would never forget as long as he lived. Al was the dark to the light Peter possessed and one of the most important people in his life. It was his job to make sure his siblings and mom were taken care of, and he'd done a pretty shit job of it. Mom was alone in London, Edmund was a prisoner, Al was half-dead, and Susan and Lucy were now smack dab in the middle of a war they should have never known about. 

However, that wasn't something that Peter could worry about right now. If Aslan was out and about again that meant that Al was going to be fine. His worry now was about getting Edmund back and then getting them the hell out of here. That was the tentative direction his thoughts were going. If he got them safe then he could stay behind and fight this war. 

He didn't think any of his siblings were going to take that well, but it was what he had to do. He didn't feel like he could reasonably fight without the express knowledge that his siblings were safe. Peter felt certain that they would understand. They had to. Because Peter didn't know what he was going to do if they didn't.


	16. Chapter 16

Lucy and Susan had arrived in the tent shortly after Aslan left to see their half-naked sister draped over Maugrim's back, her front pressed into his fur. The wolf himself was deeply asleep while Almira was wide awake, staring at nothing. It was a look she often wore when she was thinking. It worried Susan because Almira also looked worried herself. Susan knew that Almira wasn’t going talk about it so it would be pointless to try and pry it out of her. 

Susan had a gown draped over her arm ready for Almira. It was different to Susan and Lucy's while theirs were light summer dresses Almira's was made of chain mail that was styled to look like scales of some sort. The scales were a beautiful purple color that was so deep it almost looked black. Susan found that the dress was surprisingly lightweight and had no sleeves. It had a high neck and looked like it would hug Almira's body fairly tightly and yet would still allow for ease of movement. 

“Al?” Susan called gently. It startled her enough that she sat bolt upright. 

It gave Susan and Lucy a full look at the large, horrendous, jagged, slash marks that curved around her side to her back. Susan could see an awful looking bite wound to her forearm with what looked like a random line in the middle. Susan could see where the wolf had tried to rip Almira's arm off by the missing chunks of skin. On her opposite shoulder was a much neater and less deep bite mark. Susan assumed that this one was from Maugrim when he pulled Almira from the river. 

“What is it, Susan, Lucy?” Al asked not moving from where she was still pressed against Maugrim. 

“We've brought you some clothes and we thought you might like a nice wash. There's a nearby stream Aslan said we could use. The female centaurs and fauns go there to wash up so there's already a pavilion set up with soaps and whatnot.” Susan explained. 

“It would be nice to wash the blood out of my hair.” Almira agreed. Apparently that was enough for Lucy who bounded forward and grabbed Almira by the hand to drag her out of the tent. Susan stopped them by holding out the shirt Peter had been wearing. Almira gave into Susan's silent demand and slipped the shirt on.

The three girls chatted happily as they journeyed to the stream. Susan and Lucy both said that they'd already had their wash and were mostly there for the company. When they reached the stream Susan led Almira to a deeper part of the stream while Lucy gathered the soap. A comfortable silence descended as Almira bathed. Once the blood had all been washed out of Almira's hair she leaned back to let Susan untangle the long mess. 

By the time that Almira emerged from her bath, it was late afternoon and she dressed quickly in the scalemail battle gown Susan brought her and strapped on her swords and knives. Almira was relieved that it was so light in weight that she would be able to move as quickly as ever. Almira was content for now to let her hair hang unbound to dry. Later she figured she would have Susan or someone else braid it or put it up out of her face. Almira settled herself in the branches of one of the trees on the bank and watched happily as her sisters played in the water.

“You look like mum.” Lucy complimented Susan who beamed at the praise.

“Mum hasn’t had a dress like this since before the war,” Susan replied.

“We should bring her one back. A whole trunk full!” Lucy beamed, throwing her arms out. 

“If we ever get back,” Susan said morosely. Susan immediately tried to smile when she saw Lucy's downcast face. “I'm sorry I'm like that. We used to have fun together, didn’t we?” Susan asked softly. 

“Yes. Before you got boring.” Lucy joked.

“Oh, really?” Susan drawled before she splashed Lucy with the water. Lucy splashed back and it became a great splash war between them as they shrieked in laughter. Almira wished that every day could be like this one moment. Both girls were happy and the only thing that would make it better would be if Peter and Edmund were here to enjoy it too. 

Susan laughed as she ran out of the water and to one of the towels hanging on a tree branch. Susan pulled the towel down to dry off and screamed when she saw a wolf's face inches from her own. Susan staggered back to Lucy and shoved Lucy behind her as Almira jumped down from her tree branch and landed next to Susan. Almira drew her swords and slid into a ready position. All the wolves flinched back from Almira whispering about sorcery and witchcraft. Almira didn’t know what they were talking about but if it kept the wolves at bay then she was all for it. 

“Please don’t run, we're tired.” The wolf that Almira assumed was second in command said sounding quite tired. 

“We prefer to kill you quickly.” Another added. Susan looked between Lucy and where her horn was laying in the pavilion. Susan and Almira locked eyes before Almira nodded. Susan threw the towel she was holding at the new Captain of the Secret Police and sprinted for her horn while Almira attacked. Her swords sliced through the air with a beautiful and deadly swish as they sunk into wolf after wolf. 

“Lucy, tree!” Almira called to her. Lucy dodged out of the circling wolves and made it up into the tree, out of the reach of the wolves. Almira felt a thrill of relief run through her as Susan blew her horn. Almira could feel the magic in it spread out almost like a wave. Almira continued to act as the distraction as Susan bolted for the tree and scrambled up it with Lucy. Now all that was left was for Almira to make up the tree too.

After killing another wolf Almira made the jump into the tree and just barely escaped another set of bite marks. Susan and Lucy were screaming as they tried to keep their feet out of the wolf's jaws. Susan just managed to haul her feet up when Peter came charging across the river with his sword drawn. Oreius was right behind him with his Longsword drawn and Maugrim snarling at his former subordinates. 

“Get back!” Peter demanded as he jumped between his sisters and the remaining wolves. Peter could see wolf carcasses strewn across the ground and assumed it was Almira's doing.

“Peter, Ah!” Lucy cried as she shifted dangerously in the tree. Almira had to grab her to keep her from falling out of the tree. The remaining wolves encircled Peter who noticed and was trying to keep them all in sight, something that was easier said than done. 

“Come on. We've already been through this before. We both know you haven’t got it in you.” The newly-in-command wolf said. “Hell, the girl has more killer instinct than you.” He mocked. 

Aslan had pinned another of the wolves to the ground and the wolf in question looked like it wanted to piss itself in fear. Apparently having a living legend pin you to the ground with killer intent was piss yourself worthy, something that Almira could understand.

“No! Stay your weapons. This is Peter's battle.” Aslan ordered as Oreius moved to charge the wolves. 

“You may think you’re a king, but you’re going to die...like a dog!” The wolf yelled as it leaped at Peter.

“Look out!” Susan screamed at the same time the wolf leaped. Both Peter and the wolf fell to the ground, but Almira wasn’t worried since Peter was broadcasting loud and clear. 

Edmund was also still broadcasting loudly. He had also accrued more wounds since the slap, leading Almira to be sporting a nasty split lip and a few bruises along with some nasty rope burn on her wrists as well as cloth burns around her mouth and cheeks from what felt like a rough cloth gag. Oh, the slaughter Almira would visit upon them for hurting her brother. 

“Peter!”

“Peter!” Susan and Lucy cried at the same time before jumping out of the tree. They ran to Peter and shoved the now dead wolf off him. A shaking Peter shot upright and Susan and Lucy threw their arms around him in a hug. Almira jumped from the tree as well and glided over to Peter to gently thread her fingers through his hair. Aslan released the wolf he had pinned and the wolf sprinted away at top speed.

“After him. He'll lead you to Edmund.” Aslan said to Oreius. He also nodded to Almira who bowed her head to him. She started running after Oreius before grabbing onto Maugrim's scruff and swinging herself up onto his back in one smooth motion. It was high time she got her brother back.


	17. Chapter 17

The run to the Witch's camp was much shorter than Almira expected and she had to commend the Witch on her gumption of settling so close to Aslan's own camp. Maugrim led her right to Edmund who was staring at her in awe, hope, and sorrow. Almira slid off Maugrim's back and approached Edmund. Almira's scalemail gown clinked softly as she walked. By the time that she reached Edmund, he had tears pouring down his face.

Almira gently touched his face before cutting him free of the ropes and removing the gag. Instantly Edmund threw his arms around his sister and sobbed into her gown. Almira gently ran her hands through Edmund's hair as she soothed him. A branch snapped behind her and Almira whirled around, shoving Edmund behind her as she did and drawing one of her knives. Standing at knifepoint was a dwarf who now looked distinctly uneasy and afraid.

“Who is this Edmund?” Almira asked softly.

“Ginnabrik. He isn’t very nice.” Edmund responded equally softly.

“Is that right?” Almira said with a vicious smile. “So, you’re the one who hurt Edmund. I’ll have to do something about that.” Almira said before she struck.

Almira grabbed the dwarf by the throat and spun around to slam him against the tree Edmund had been tied to.

“You see, I have this issue with people hurting those I care for. It tends to bring the worst out in me and unfortunately for you, you just happen to be the first one I've come across while here.” Almira punctuated this by grabbing the dwarf's arm and twisting it until a shiver-inducing crack echoed as his arm broke. The dwarf let out a scream of pain before breaking down into sobs.

“You think you're Queen is scary? She's got nothing on me when those I love are threatened.” Almira snarled before gesturing to Edmund. “Tie him up.”

Edmund jumped to do as his sister ordered, taking a vindictive pleasure in it as well. Even more so when he shoved the gag into the sobbing dwarf's mouth. By the time he had finished his sister had already jumped back onto the back of the massive wolf's back. Edmund took the hand his sister offered to help climb onto the wolf, a wolf Edmund thought he recognized. A centaur approached, took notice of Edmund and nodded before turning and galloping out of the camp, Almira, and Edmund right behind him.

Edmund was silent on the ride back to wherever they were going, merely holding onto his sister like he feared she would vanish if he let go. Edmund noticed, as they ran, that his sister was sporting two new sets of scars. One was on her right forearm and looked like one of the wolves had bitten her and tried to rip her arm off along with what Edmund assumed was a stab wound in the middle of the bite. Chunks of skin were missing and it looked all-around horrible. The second was a much neater set of bite marks on her left shoulder but still looked like they had been equally painful.

Almira had also been sporting bruises and a split lip that matched his own, as well as rope burn on her wrists and reddened skin around her mouth like Edmund's. Somehow his sister had matching injuries to his own, something he knew he was going to have to ask Peter about. They made it back to camp and Edmund slid off the wolf's back before turning to help his sister down, not that Almira actually needed it. Edmund looked at Almira in confusion for a few moments before speaking.

“Is your hair lighter?” Almira looked startled for a second before she grabbed some of the long strands and brought them around so she could check for herself.

“Huh, how about that.” She said before releasing the strands. They were no longer an inky black but were now closer to Lucy's auburn colored hair.

“Aren't you worried about it?” Edmund couldn’t help but ask.

“Not really. If it changes, then it changes. But right now you have someone you need to speak with.” Almira said and nodded her head to something behind him. Edmund turned and found himself face to face with the biggest damn lion he'd ever seen. Almira and the wolf moved past them to catch up with the centaur that had helped rescue Edmund. Almira gently ran her fingers through the lion's mane as she passed. As she did her hair lightened another shade. Edmund blinked but decided that it was none of his business.

Almira and Maugrim caught up with Oreius as he walked further into camp. Almira decided that it would be best for them to bury the hatchet so to speak, especially since they were about to head into a massive battle. By the time they reached the center of the encampment, they were chatting like old friends. They passed Peter who was just now emerging from the tent he would be sharing with Almira and Edmund. Oreius paused long enough to look behind him at Edmund.

Peter followed Oreius's gaze and was thrilled to see Edmund standing on a rock above camp speaking with Aslan. Peter was also relieved to see that Almira was uninjured and he was caught off guard by the sudden realization that she looked incredibly regal in her long deep purple scalemail gown and her knee-length hair hanging free around her. She looked like a queen. Almira smiled at him as she continued past with Oreius. Peter heard Susan and Lucy emerge from their tent but kept his gaze focused on Edmund and Aslan.

“Edmund!” Lucy yelled happily after she caught sight of him. Peter held out an arm to keep her from running to him. They watched as Edmund turned at the sound of his name before turning back to Aslan and finishing their conversation. Together, Aslan and Edmund approached the others. Peter could see the sheepishness and fear in his brother's posture and wanted to take a page out of Al's book and punch that Witch in the face for what she'd done to his brother. 

“What's done is done. There is no need to speak to Edmund about what is past.” Aslan said before walking past them to where Almira was standing with Maugrim. 

“Hello,” Edmund said sounding unsure. Lucy was the first one to break ranks and throw her arms around Edmund's waist. Edmund froze for a second before hugging her back fiercely. Susan was seconds behind Lucy and threw her arms around Edmund as well. Edmund all but sank into their embrace in relief. Peter also wanted to hug Edmund to him and make sure that he was alright but figured that Edmund wouldn’t appreciate it out in the open. Susan was the first one to pull away.

“Are you alright?” Susan asked in a choked voice.

“I'm a little tired,” Edmund admitted. 

“Get some sleep,” Peter said jerking his head toward the tent they were to share. Edmund seemed to sink into himself as he went to follow Peter's order. “And Edmund...Try not to wander off.” Peter added with a smile and a relieved tone of voice. Edmund smiled back in relief before moving off to the tent. 

“I'm going to get some sleep too. It's still been days.” Almira said to her siblings before she too vanished into the tent with Maugrim right behind her. 

Edmund had already changed and climbed into the bed when Almira walked in. Almira smiled at his sleeping form and leaned over to gently kiss his forehead. Almira unbuckled her sword belt and hung it on what she deemed to be her side of the bed, then stripped out of the scalemail gown and hung it over the back of a chair. She grabbed up a spare tunic that belonged to either Peter or Edmund and climbed into the empty bed. Maugrim settled on the floor near the head of the bed, ready to jump to his mistress's defense if need be. Almira was asleep in seconds feeling at peace for the first time in days now that Edmund was back. 


	18. Chapter 18

Almira woke briefly when Peter picked her up so that he could slide in behind her. Almira was back asleep the moment she realized it was Peter and did not wake again until the morning light shone in her face. Almira was soon out of bed dressed in nothing but a spare men's tunic and her undergarments, which she had made herself back in England. She padded on bare feet over the soft carpets to the table that was situated near the front of the tent. She settled her self in one of the wooden chairs and pulled her legs up in the chair. 

A hot cup of tea was already waiting for her on the table and Almira took a grateful sip of it. Her head was still reeling from what Aslan had told her on her first day in camp. 

“Worrying about it won't help Mira.” Maugrim's gravely voice intoned softly from where he was still lying near the head of the bed. With a sigh, he got to his feet and padded over to Almira and settled down next to her. 

“I know.” Almira said softly, “and I know you’re right, but I'm so used to being the extra, the unimportant one that this isn’t so easy to come to terms with.” Almira said as her hand dangled down to pet him gently. 

“Aslan knows what he's doing,” Maugrim said in an effort at reassurance. Almira merely hummed, not agreeing and not disagreeing with him. 

“Finally awake?” A sleep mussed Peter asked as he staggered out of bed and over to the table. He dropped into one of the free chairs and ran a hand through his hair. Almira hadn’t realized that Peter had stripped off his shirt before going to bed. Almira supposed it made sense given that it was rather warm out now, even at night.

“How long was I asleep?” Almira asked as she got up to pour Peter a cup of tea as well.

“All of yesterday and last night. I'm glad, you needed the sleep. It's been at least three days since you've slept. You can't keep doing that to yourself Al.” Peter said still half asleep. 

“Your concern is noted,” Almira said dryly as she set the steaming cup down in front of Peter.

“But ignored.” Peter finished looking a lot more awake after downing half his tea. Almira merely smiled. 

The calm was broken when Edmund woke and joined them at the table. He looked a lot better after a long sleep and Almira could tell he felt better as well. That lip and the bruises were going to take a while to heal, but would eventually. Edmund raised an eyebrow at Maugrim's presence but said nothing against him. They settled back into a comfortable silence after Peter stood and fetched Edmund his own cup of tea. 

The calm was once again broken when a female voice asked to be admitted. Peter invited the owner of the voice in, forgetting his state of undress. 

“Your Majesties.” It was a female faun who entered bowing, “I was assigned to Lady Almira and I must regretfully inform you that I have lost my charge.” The faun said as she lifted her head. She stared at the three siblings sitting at the table for a few moments before her face went beet red and she launched herself toward Almira.

“Lady Almira! This is most improper! Where is the nightwear that was laid out for you! You can not be wandering around in naught but a tunic and sneaking into their Majesties tent!” The faun screeched at top volume. Edmund and Peter knew better than to speak when any kind of female was on a rant like this, their mother had taught them well. In fact, both boys were doing their level best not to make eye contact with the outraged faun. 


End file.
